This invention relates to data cell processing in a satellite communication system and more particularly relates to routing arbitration of such cells.
Weight and power are critical parameters when designing for space-based data cell routing where higher weight and power translate to higher spacecraft and launch costs and/or reduced capacity which would lower potential revenue.
A non-blocking routing switch with multiple input and output ports has significant power and weight advantages over bus or banyan type architectures, and such a switch requires some form of arbitration. Since all input sources to such a switch are independent, the multiple input ports may attempt to send data to the same output port at the same instant. Arbitration is required to resolve this potential conflict.
A terrestrial routing switch can include sophisticated arbitration algorithms executed on a high power computer. However, due to weight/power limitations on a spacecraft, such approaches are impractical, and there is a need for a low power solution which can arbitrate between data cells contending for the same node or port. The solution must be able to arbitrate in the time required to route a data cell aboard the satellite.